After crashing back to Earth with the underwhelming Caracal, Disclosure have quietly recaptured the form that made Settle one of this decade’s most impressive debut albums. The Lawrence brothers released a new single every day last week, each one a love letter to an artist or genre that’s inspired them. There aren’t any glossy cameos from pop stars; Sam Smith isn’t waiting in the wings, ready to belt over a 2-step beat. With elegant chopping and flipping, Disclosure reach across decades and cultures—from 1980s pop to vocal jazz and Sudanese funk—and place their favorite hidden gems in sleek, club-ready contexts.
“Moonlight” was the first song unveiled, and it might be the best of the bunch. Built around a sample of “When I Fall in Love,” as performed by the Swedish a cappella vets the Real Group, it offers unaltered taste of their harmony before their voices are sliced, diced, and positioned among strobing chords and a gurgling bass line. Source material that’s lovely but sterile is imbued with urgency and momentum thanks to some graceful vocal editing, and hearing that signature Disclosure “drop”—it’s more like a hiccup, a clearing of the throat before hitting the floor—feels like greeting an old friend you haven’t seen in a while. Like the rest of the duo’s new material, this is music that’s animated by the joy of discovery and creation, and Disclosure seem revitalized by that fundamental pleasure.
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